With the Atlanta Dream’s disheartening loss Friday in Chicago and Sunday’s 87-73 win over the Connecticut Sun, it’s hard to say whether a month-long Olympic break was good, bad or neither for the team — unless you ask Angel McCoughtry.
Keep in mind the perennial WNBA All-Star views the situation through gold-colored glasses. She showed off both her gold medals in the Philips Arena locker room after matching teammate Layshia Clarendon with 19 points.
Actually, McCoughtry knows the difference between success and failure. Break or not, when the Dream (14-13) hit the boards, they’ve got a shot. Sunday’s 37-32 rebounding edge over the Sun (9-17) had more to do with success than time off.
“It was an Olympic break,” said McCoughtry, who averaged 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in eight games while the U.S. rolled to gold in Rio. “It’s great for anybody to get refreshed. Since last game we did really bad on the boards … we played much better today.
“We know it. If we’re going to contend in the playoffs, we have to do that.”
Atlanta limited the Sun to nine offensive boards. Friday, the Sky scored 27 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds, a good Dream after a bad one.
Atlanta is 9-4 when outrebounding an opponent, including an edge when they upset the WNBA-leading Los Angeles Sparks on July 17, and 4-9 when beat on the boards.
Another revelation surfaced as the Dream finished a four-game season sweep of the Sun and won their fifth straight home game: When Clarendon scores, Atlanta’s better.
She matched her career high while hitting the 19-point mark for the fifth time this season. Atlanta is 4-1 in those games. She made all three of her 3-pointers, yet aggressiveness may have been more important. She hit all six of her free throws.
Tiffany Hayes (17 points) was 9-of-12 and the Dream made 10 more free throws than the Sun.
“We had more energy on the boards, and I think it was more self-motivation,” Clarendon said. “I think it keeps other teams honest [when the scoring is balanced] … for us it’s about getting to the rim and stop settling for outside shots.”
Forward Sancho Lyttle missed her fifth straight game since suffering a bone bruise in her right foot, but coach Michael Cooper said that may be working to his team’s benefit. Young players are developing faster in her absence.
Lyttle may return for Atlanta’s next game on Sept. 4 vs. Seattle.
“Her not being there is allowing other players to play a little more with Rachel [Hollivay] and Elizabeth [Williams] as well as Bria Holmes,” Cooper said. “With our young players, we can hold the ship and when we do get her back we’re going to be a dangerous team in the playoffs.”
The Dream stand fourth in the WNBA playoffs race and with seven games remaining in the regular season, they’re likely to earn one of eight postseason spots.
They would do well go remember Sunday’s primary lesson: hit the glass.
Williams, who like McCoughtry spent her break differently, tends to be in the middle of this. She grabbed a game-high nine rebounds Sunda, and was one of four Atlanta players with six or more.
She was tabbed as a member of the U.S. Select team, which practiced and scrimmaged against the Olympic team last month.
That was nice and it was swell when McCoughtry scored 11 points in the first quarter to stake Atlanta to a 20-17 lead that it never lost. Even though Williams is but a second-year pro, she knows that the dirty work underneath matters more than time off. Passion means more than rest.
Sunday, she punished the team that traded her to Atlanta in February for the No. 4 pick in the draft with 16 points, two blocked shots and an assist while playing all but 50 seconds.
She averaged just 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds last season in 11.7 minutes for the Sun. She’s averaging 12 points, 7.6 rebounds and is second in the WNBA with 69 blocks. Williams has started all 27 games.
“I had a good time playing with the Select team and seeing how the senior team acts on and off the court and what it takes to be an Olympian on and off the court,” the former Duke star said. “It was really important for us to control the boards.”
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